Marriage bond 1800 cost 500 pounds?

Question

Why would it cost so much

Answer 1

Look at
http://genforum.genealogy.com/gen/messages/16185.html
and all the follow-ups. A bond was a bond, not a fee. If the marriage didn't go through, the bondsman forfeited the money, but if the marriage did go through, he didn't.

Very often the "bond" was in property, not cash.

Answer 2

The bond is like a sworn oath by a witness which is payable should the witness be found lying or deceiving the state, and was comparable to an insurance on the marriage. This bond granted the groom and bride to buy the license to take to the officiator of the ceremony of matrimony (usually, the preacher or a Justice of the Peace). The reason for the bond was because, let's say the groom had previously been married and not divorced, then he would be committing polygamy, which was against the law. There were several other examples of reasons why the bond would be executed (collecting the monies from the person who gave the testimony that there wasn't any reason for the couple to not be married, who essentially was found by the state to be lying) can be researched, as well. In today's terms, the 'bond' was the proof that there wasn't going to be anybody come up later and have a reason for them to not be married in the first place. When a minister or person licensed to perform the matrimony asks, "if there is anyone who can say these persons should not be married, let them speak", they are making reference to the 'bond'. This is adopted from way back, when the preacher used to ask for several Sundays before the wedding if anyone in the church knew of a reason for the couple to not be married, and if someone came up and gave a valid reason which was found to be true, then the couple would not be united in matrimony.

Answer 3

Cool! You found a marriage bond for a relative--is that right? Wow! From about.com, it reads... "In earlier times, a marriage bond was given to the court by the intended groom prior to his marriage. It affirmed that there was no moral or legal reason why the couple could not be married and it also affirmed that the groom would not change his mind. If he did, and did not marry the intended bride, he would forfeit the bond. The bondsman, or surety, was often a brother or uncle to the bride, not necessarily a parent. The bondsman could also be related to the groom, or even be a neighbor or friend, but those situations occurred less often."

Here is another explanation of the bond at http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/Ancillary/OnE/MarriageRecords.shtml: "With communications not being what they are today, there was some need to insure that someone representing themselves as "marriageable" really was; that is, that they were not already married and not committing bigamy. The marriage bond was a sizable amount of money for its day, which friends and/or relatives of both the bride and groom (sometimes the groom himself) posted guaranteeing that both members of the couple were indeed eligible to marry. This bond was forfeited if such turned out later not to be the case, so the posting of the bond gave some measure of assurance to each member of the couple that neither was misrepresenting themselves to the other. The signed bond was usually submitted to the county clerk the day the license was obtained, but the bond itself, which was a loose piece of paper, may have been signed days (rarely weeks) earlier. Like the permission slips, some original marriage bonds may still be extant at the county clerk's office or with the county historical or genealogical society. More often, they have not survived, and we know of them only because their existence was recorded in a county book of "Marriage Bonds." But the book itself was not the bond, the piece of paper was the bond — just as the wills in a county will book are recorded copies, not the original wills."

Keep in mind a bond's price was not necssarily decided by the court but by the overall status of the bride and or groom's family. The bride's family had to manifest a substantial dowry, and often took considerable costs to prepare for the wedding, so it was a form of insurance--a good will gesture or guaranty. Marriage bonds were also popular in arranged marriages, in which social and financial status dominated the decision making process.

Answer 4

Because he was so rich! It depended upon how much money, land, etc. the prospective groom had.